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Ugarit (; Ugaritic: 𐎜𐎂𐎗𐎚, ủgrt /ʾUgarītu/) was an ancient Levantine coastal city located in what is today northern Syria, at a site known in Arabic as Ras Shamra or Tell Shamra.

Since its discovery in 1928, the site has revealed the oldest known systematic use of an alphabet. Ugaritic texts were written in a previously unknown Northwest Semitic tongue—the Ugaritic language. Archaeological excavations of Ugarit show evidence of occupation since the 8th millennium BC. Research has focused on the late Bronze Age levels; relatively little is known about earlier occupation. Ugarit is 10 km (6.2 mi) north of the Syrian city Latakia; at its zenith it ruled an area roughly equivalent to the modern Latakia Governorate.

Ugarit has its origins in the Neolithic period of the Fertile Crescent. The site was occupied from the end of the 8th millennium BC and continued as a settlement through the Near Eastern Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages until its destruction c. 1200 BC) the settlement saw significant growth, culminating in the establishment of the Kingdom of Ugarit. The city had close ties to the Hittite Empire, in later periods as a vassal state. It sent tribute to Egypt at times, and maintained trade and diplomatic relations with Alashiya (possibly Cyprus), as documented in archives recovered from the site and corroborated by Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery found there. 1185 BC, when it was destroyed, along with the sites of many other polities that fell in the Late Bronze Age collapse of 12th century BC. Both Tell Sukas and nearby Tell Tweini (proposed as ancient Gibala), a coastal city at the southern edge of the Kingdom of Ugarit, were also destroyed at this time.

Ugarit (Stratum 8) provides material from MB I.

Ugarit (Stratum 7) would eventually become a vassal of Yamhad along with several other petty kingdoms in the Northern Levant (Syria). Mari was a kingdom located on the Middle Euphrates to the east of the Yamhad Empire. Trade would have gone from Ugarit, Aleppo, Emar, Mari down to Babylon. Ugarit had contacts with the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (c.

Five of the Egyptian Amarna letters from the mid-14th century BC were written in Ugarit.

I demand this request: the land of Ugarit there is a severe hunger (bi-ru-ú dan-niš): May my lord save , and may the king give grain (ZÍZ.AN.MEŠ) to save my life … and to save the citizens of the land of Ugarit.

The viceroy sent troops to assist Ugarit, but Ugarit had already been sacked when the Hittite forces reached the city.

A number of Late Bronze Age Ugarit rulers used a cylinder seal (not yet found) reading

The uncovered area was the necropolis of Ugarit, located in the nearby seaport of Minet el-Beida. Beginning in 1929 excavations of Ugarit were conducted by a French team called the Mission de Ras Shamra led by archaeologist Claude Schaeffer from the Musée archéologique in Strasbourg.

Three steles were found within the Temple of Dagan complex, all dating to the end of the Late Bronze Age.

Two other sites within the city of Ugarit, Ras Ibn Hani and Minet el Beida, have also been excavated. One of the two ports of ancient Ugarit (the other, Ra’šu, is unlocated but suggested to be Ras Ibn Hani) was located 1.5 kilometers west of the main city, at the natural harbor of Minet el Beida (Arabic for "White Harbor").

Located right in the city centre of Ugarit is a Late Bronze Age cult complex named the Temple of the Rhyton.

Stone stelae, another type of iconographic stone work present in Ugarit, carries primarily local, Egyptian, and Anatolian elements.

Excavations in Tell Ras Shamra have shown that Ugarit hosts the greatest collection of late Bronze Age Syrian Ivories, which reflect Aegean, Egyptian, Hittite, and local influences.

Quick Facts

• Archaeological excavations of Ugarit show evidence of occupation since the 8th millennium BC.
• Both Tell Sukas and nearby Tell Tweini (proposed as ancient Gibala), a coastal city at the southern edge of the Kingdom of Ugarit, were also destroyed at this time.
• Ugarit is 10 km (6.2 mi) north of the Syrian city Latakia; at its zenith it ruled an area roughly equivalent to the modern Latakia Governorate.
• Ugaritic texts were written in a previously unknown Northwest Semitic tongue—the Ugaritic language.
• Research has focused on the late Bronze Age levels; relatively little is known about earlier occupation.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Ugarit". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.